THREE CROSSES

As you travel across the United States you cannot help but notice the message of the three silent crosses. Whenever I have taken a long trip I have seen them several times in each state.
Those crosses call to mind a sermon by Myron J. Taylor titled "A Hill With Three Crosses." He said that one cross portrays a thief dying IN sin, and the other a thief dying TO sin. But the center cross speaks of the Redeemer dying FOR sin. It divides all humanity into one of two categories - those who reject Christ and die in sin, and those who receive Christ and can die to sin.
You can tell that someone put in a lot of hard work and effort to place those crosses through our country along the highways so that they will be seen by those traveling by. When you see them remember "A Hill With Three Crosses" and thank God you are dead to sin when you receive Christ as your Savior.

NOTE: Next week there may be some days that there will be no devotional. I have to have some minor heart surgery and could be in the hospital for a few days. I am going to try to make arangements for a devotional to be uploaded while I am indisposed but I am not sure. I will know by Monday about that. Please keep me in your prayers during the coming week.

LEST YE FALL

1Corinthians 10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth TAKE HEED LEST he fall.

Could the United States be headed down a path similar to that of ancient Rome? Let's look at the five reasons for Rome's downfall, as set forth by Edward Gibbon in his classic work "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire."
They are: 1) The undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home.2) Increasing taxes and spending of public money for bread and circuses. 3) The mad craze for pleasure, with sports becoming more exciting and more brutal. 4) The building of gigantic armaments, when the real enemy is the decadence of the people.5) The decay of religion, with faith fading into mere form.
Do these sound familiar? What happens when we fall? There is no other Nation on Earth who will come to our rescue but rather they will come for the spoils and to utterly destroy us.
This is not really an uplifting devotional but sometimes we need to take a serious look at where we are headed as a Nation. If there is hope for this nation it is found in God's people.
2Chronicles 7:14 IF MY PEOPLE, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

FROG NOISES

Romans 16:17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and AVOID them.

FROGS: A farmer came into town and asked the owner of a small restaurant if he could use a million frog legs. Naturally he was a little surprised and he asked the farmer where he intended to get a million frog legs. The farmer replied, "There is a pond behind my house that is full of frogs. They croak night and day and I can hardly get any rest. They are about to drive me crazy."
The owner of the restaurant agreed to take a couple of hundred of the frog legs from the farmer if he would deliver them the following week.
A week later the farmer returned looking a little sheepish. He had only four small frog legs. "I was mistaken. There were only two frogs in the whole pond but they sure were making a lot of noise."
LESSON: The next time you hear someone criticizing the teachers, the Preacher, some member or the church in general, remember the story. It is probably no more than a couple of chronic grouches who have nothing more to do than croak. (Pulpit Helps)
This illustration says it a whole lot better than I could have.

BEARING FRUIT

Luke 13:6 He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none.(7) Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ()8 And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: (9) And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.

Many times we look at ourselves and examine ourselves by what we are not doing. If we are not engaged in terrible sin we look around at those that are and it makes us feel a little self-righteous and comfortable. Here Jesus is speaking in a parable about bearing fruit. It is interesting that he was just speaking of some that lost their lives, and he was preaching repentance. He warned that if those failed to repent they would likewise perish. He followed this with the parable about bearing fruit.
Sometimes we try to force ourselves to bear fruit for the Lord. That is like grabbing a fruit tree and shaking it and yelling, "Bear Fruit." What we have to do is take care of it. We nurture it by watering, fertilizing it and pruning it. When a fruit tree is healthy the sap rises within it and the overabundance of the sap causes it to bear fruit.
The same is true in our lives as far as bearing spiritual fruit. We drink the living water and feed ourselves from the Word of God. We then prune away the unproductive things in our life and an abundance of the Love of God will cause us to bear fruit.

Eph 3:19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might BE FILLED with all the fullness of God.

THANKS TO ALL OF YOU

2Corinthians 9:12 For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God;
When we started this ministry back in July of last year we felt it would be a ministry that a small church (we have about 25 active members) could use to minister on a larger scale. When we first started it I wasn't sure how often I could write a devotional to put online. Thankfully the Lord led Jeremy to help and between the two of us we have mostly been able to post something at least 4 or 5 times per week.
I want to say thank you for being faithful to this ministry and I hope it is a blessing to you. My prayer is that it will continue to grow and be a blessing to others. Through this ministry I know there are some in Arkansas, and at least one in Minnesota that read from time to time. It has allowed me to be aware of prayer needs in many places. I promise you that when I add you to my prayer list I will have prayer for you.
My prayer is that God will use this ministry for His Glory and that it will also give the readers some spiritual food or at least something to think about. I ask that you pray for me and Bro. Jeremy as we continue this ministry. Again I thank you for reading and especially I thank you for your feedback and response. It is great to know that you are a part of this ministry with us.

HOW TO WORRY

Phillipians 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
1. Never worry over rumors or what someone says, always get the facts.

2. Know definitely your worry problem, write it down, and face it.

3. Worry about only one problem at a time.

4. Set a definite day, afternoon or night for worrying.

5. Never worry in bed, in the dining room, living room or at church.

6. Select an air-conditioned room, lean back and make yourself comfortable.

7. Set a time limit. If you must go beyond it give yourself credit for time and a half.

8. Never worry with a frown, always smile while you worry.

9. Never worry while you are tired, sick, angry or depressed.

10. Never worry while you are working, playing, visiting, shopping,or gossiping.

11. Never worry when you can help the situation and certainly never worry when you can not.

12. Never worry alone. Take it to the Lord.(copied)

Someone once said that worry is kind of like rocking in a rocking chair, "It keeps you busy but it doesn't get you anywhere."

Praying For Others

By Jeremy Burkes

Romans 1:9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;

It is important that when we put a name on a prayer list that we actually pray for them. When we ask someone to pray for us it is important that we continue to pray for ourselves. (Actually it is good to ask people to pray with us instead of just for us.)
So many times we expect others to do all the praying in our prayer relationships. Asking someone to pray for you and then not praying for yourself is like asking someone to help you and not helping yourself.
God has made it clear that He wants us to come before Him with prayer. When we ask others to pray for us we are talking to man, when we pray we are talking to God.
We must not fail to pray for others but certainly we must not leave prayer for ourselves to others. Let's pray.